With its Innovation Hub, Seara launches 150 products a year

Present in Brazilian homes for decades, Seara offers superior quality, flavor and innovation, with a wide and diverse portfolio to meet the most varied consumption occasions. Five years ago, the company, which belongs to JBS, created the Seara Innovation Hub. The hub is where the product lines that leave the factories and reach the consumer’s table are developed. Since 2019, there have been 700 launches, including fresh protein, ready-made foods and sausages – an average of 150 innovative products per year.

The Innovation Hub was created to anticipate trends in people’s eating habits and deliver food to consumers that meets their needs and tastes. “Our main goal is to understand desires and offer more quality and convenience by offering new products, products in different formats or suitable for new consumption occasions,” says Luciara Rech Peil, Seara’s Executive Director of Innovation and R&D.

How the hub works

The Innovation Hub is comprised of around 80 Research and Development professionals, including scientists, engineers, chefs and experts in food sensory analysis. The team is based between São Paulo and the main regions where Seara has factories. “This distribution allows for a direct connection with production operations, resulting in a faster and more assertive process when creating products,” says the executive.

The work of these professionals feeds on insights and information from suppliers, consumers and market data. Between 500 and 700 studies are carried out every month. All this to identify what people want in terms of new flavors, ways of preparing them, ingredients and the size of the portions sold in the markets.

“We go where the consumer is to understand the attributes that are relevant to them. We analyze whether what we already deliver meets their needs or if something is missing,” Luciara explains. “Can they find the product in the flavor they would like? Is our packaging too big or too small? Is there a new product category we can create to meet their wishes? These are some of the questions we ask that guide our work at the hub.”

After development in the laboratories, the products are tested in one of Seara’s six pilot plants. Any investment in the factories, whether for expansion, the adoption of new technologies or changes to production lines, is made with the support of the R&D team. “This is essential to ensure that the products we create can be produced to the strictest quality standards,” says the Executive Director of Innovation and R&D.

Specialists also work to establish the best way to prepare the products. This is where the work of the so-called “sensory masters” comes in – they are professionals who evaluate characteristics such as taste, texture, aroma and appearance of the products. They work to ensure that everything reaches the consumer’s table with the highest quality standards. This means, for example, testing food in new ways, such as air fryers.

As well as creating products, the Innovation Hub has a laboratory created exclusively for the development of packaging, where new materials are developed that are more practical and sustainable.

One of the products created based on the trends identified was the Levíssimo product range. The launch combined two of the main preferences of Brazilians: the flavor of ham with the lightness of turkey breast. In doing so, it consolidated a new category of cold cuts. Made with 100% pork loin, Levíssimo has become a new option in the cold cuts segment, with 30% less fat and 38% less sodium than the ham produced by Seara.

Prizes

The work carried out at Seara’s hub resulted in 71 innovation awards in the last five years. There were nine in 2024 alone. Among them were the Fi Innovation Awards, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the industry, granted by Food Ingredients South America (FiSA). The new Seara Gourmet Salami and the Panelinhas Seara range, which came second and third respectively as the most innovative products, were awarded.

“For us it’s a recognition and a sign that we are achieving our goals, especially meeting the demands and needs of consumers,” says Luciara.